


Time Crashed

by larxenethefirefly



Series: Music of Eternity [8]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-16
Updated: 2014-02-16
Packaged: 2018-01-12 18:08:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1194576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larxenethefirefly/pseuds/larxenethefirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and the Fifth Doctor meet Ten when their TARDISes merge. Part of my music 'verse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Time Crashed

**Author's Note:**

> This plot bunny bit me and refused to let go. Beta'd by Karu, who is awesome :D

Rose had been taking a shower when the TARDIS seemed to fold in on itself.

She shrieked, the water being hot and cold all at once, and stumbled out of the stall. The shaking stopped after a minute, but by then she had managed to get herself reasonably dry and partially dressed. With the other companions in Barbados, she didn’t have to worry about running into them. And she was barely clothed when it was just her and the Doctor anyway.

So, dressed in a bra, lacy knickers, and a tank-top, she raced out of the en-suite and into their bedroom, only stopping when she flung open the door into the hallway and came to a dead stop.

This wasn’t her TARDIS.

Where she was expecting smooth white walls, she saw coral and grating. The TARDIS still sang the same, but somehow she had been temporally misplaced. She swallowed. How far into the future was she?

She backed into the room, grabbing a pair of shorts the TARDIS had left by the door for her. Rose fought the temptation to look around, not wanting the future to be revealed to her. For all she knew she could be hundreds upon thousands of years later, when both she and the Doctor were dead. The TARDIS could have a new owner.

“Where is he?” she asked, quietly, and the TARDIS lit up the correct pathway. Barefoot, she hurried down the twisting hallways, and couldn’t help but wonder why the bedroom was so far from the console room- every single one of her Doctor’s had slept right next door, practically.

She heard a loud, excited voice up ahead, and burst into the console room. “Doctor!” she exclaimed, and immediately rushed over the the man in cricket whites. Barely even registering the other man there, she threw her arms around him, and he caught her, tightly.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her voice muffled into his chest.

He replied, and she noticed his voice sounded odd. “I’m not sure. Something wrong with the TARDIS; felt like a time anomaly.”

She pulled back to look at him, and frowned. “Doctor? Why do you look-” Rose paused, then her eyes widened in horror. “Oh, no. I did jump time tracks somehow, didn’t I?”

Her Doctor- much more older- shook his head. “No, Rose. Something has messed up Time in the TARDIS, and I was somehow caught up in the field. Whatever the case, he seems to be at the root of it.”

Confused, she moved to look where the Doctor was staring with narrowed eyes. It was a taller man, with rather fantastic hair, brown eyes, and freckles. He was wearing a blue suit- the color of mourning to Gallifreyans- and his expression was haunted. “Rose,” he whispered, voice thick.

She shrunk back against the Doctor, acutely aware of just how little she was wearing in front of this stranger. “How do you know me?” she demanded, her hands tugging at the hemline of her shorts to protect her modesty. The Doctor swiftly removed his jacket and helped her into it.

The stranger swallowed and blinked rapidly. “Rose, it’s me,” he said.

Rose looked at him, unsure of what he meant- until she looked at his eyes. She saw her own Doctor staring back at her, darker, harder, but nevertheless the same man who had his hands on her shoulders at that moment. “Doctor,” she whispered, and he nodded, jerkily. “Where…” she cleared her throat. “Am I…”

“I can’t tell you,” he said, sadly. His eyes dropped to console. “You’re still alive, oh, so alive… but I can’t tell you.”

“I know.” she said, softly. Then, despite the warning squeeze her current Doctor gave her, she stepped forward to embrace her future Doctor. “I’m here for now, though.”

He returned her hug fiercely, wrapping himself around her like an octopus. She clung back just as tightly, trying to send him every ounce of love and comfort she could through her touch. It didn’t matter what would happen to her- she was there to give him strength now.

An alarm sounded, startling them both, and they disentangled themselves. Her current Doctor was frantic, flicking dials and switches on the console. “It’s like… it’s like there are two time zones at war in the heart of the TARDIS,” he breathed. “But that’s… that’s a paradox!”

“What?” Rose yelped, running over to the monitor. “That’ll blow a hole in the universe!”

The other Doctor trailed behind her slowly. “Yes… the exact size of Belgium, apparently,” her current Doctor said, frowning.

Rose blinked. “Bit undramatic.”

“Need this?” her future Doctor asked, holding out something that vaguely looked liked the sonic screwdriver her Doctor used to carry.

“I’m fine,” the one in cricket whites replied, fingers moving over the console again. “Rose, hit sequence fifteen.”

She did so, but another alarm started going off. “Uh-oh,” she said.

“Two minutes to Belgium!” her current Doctor worried. Then he glared at his older self. “You could help us out, you know.”

He rocked back on his heels. “Welll, if you insist.” The cloister bell sounded, and he grinned. “Ah, that’s my cue.”

He ran around the console, and Rose’s eyes widened as she followed his motions. “Are you crazy? That’ll create a black hole big enough to swallow the universe! Forget Belgium!”

The future Doctor looked sheepish. “Yeah, that’s my fault, actually. I was doing some repair work on the TARDIS and forgot to put the shields back up. Your TARDIS and my TARDIS- well, the same TARDIS, different points in its own time stream- collided. And oops, there you go, end of the Universe butterfingers. But!” he announced dramatically, “don’t worry, I know exactly how all of this works out. Watch!” he danced around the console again, and Rose chased after him, grabbing her current Doctor’s hand along the way and holding it tightly. He squeezed back, the only sign of worry he allowed.

At least until the future Doctor went to make his final move, at which point he leapt forward and stopped him. “You’ll blow up the TARDIS,” he said, angrily.

The future Doctor looked at him intently. “Only way out.”

“Who taught you that?!”

“You did,” was the equally intense reply, and then the future Doctor slammed his hand down on a button.

Rose covered her eyes as a blinding white light enveloped the room, and cautiously opened them again when it died down. She blinked away the spots that had been formed, and nearly collapsed with relief when everything still remained.

Her current Doctor looked stunned. “Black hole and supernova at the exact same time,” he said, awed.

“Implosion cancels out explosion,” the other agreed.

“Matter remains constant,” hers finished.

The future Doctor smiled. “Brilliant,” he agreed.

Rose walked over to join them. “What happens now?” she asked.

The other Doctor kept his eyes on his past form. “Since the TARDIS is now separated, you should return back to your own soon. Everything back to the way it was.”

“Will I remember this?” she asked, quietly.

He finally looked at her. “Yes.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Then I want you to remember this: I will come back to you. You said I was alive, and for whatever reason, I’m not with you now: but I promised you forever, Doctor. And I intend to keep it.”

His smile was broken, but she saw the hope in his eyes. “I know you will,” he said. Then the manic personality returned. “So, when are you again? Nyssa and Tegan, cybermen and Mara and Time Lords with funny hats and the Master! Oh!” he exclaimed. “He just showed up again; same as ever.”

“Oh no,” the Doctor groaned. “Really?”

“Does he still have that beard?” Rose asked. “Or is it still singed from the last time I met him?”

“No, no beard this time,” The future Doctor assured them. “Well, a wife,” he added, thoughtfully.

Rose wrinkled her nose. “Seriously?”

The future Doctor spun a few dials, and Rose saw double- her TARDIS and the future TARDIS. “Oh,” her Doctor said. “We seem to be off.” His hand gripping hers tightly, he smiled. “What can I say? Thank you, Doctor.”

“Thank you,” the other replied, softly.

His TARDIS disappeared, and Rose sighed in relief as hers solidified around her. Her hand sliding out of the Doctor’s, she walked toward the console, collapsing onto the pilot’s seat in relief. “Home sweet home,” she said aloud, only to realize she was alone. She stood up, terrified. “Doctor?!”

He faded into existence a minute later, a sad but resigned look on his face. He hugged her tightly when she crashed into him yet again. “What did he say to you?” She asked.

“Just not to waste any time,” he said. “Not that I had to be reminded.” His tone was matter-of-fact.

She smiled up at him. “It’s good to see you back to normal. Not that you didn’t look handsome, I just prefer you young and fit.”

He made a face. “It’s a wonder that you stayed with me in my younger years.”

Rose giggled then kissed the tip of his nose. “It’s cause I love you.”

The Doctor’s eyes grew soft. “I suppose it is.” Then he grinned. “Well, since I am still young and fit…”

“Yeah?”

He ducked and picked her up around her middle, carrying her over his shoulder towards their room. “I was told not to waste time,” he said, mildly, at her demands to be let down.

Rose laughed, and pinched his bum. After all, there were worse views to have.  



End file.
